The present disclosure relates to a display. The present disclosure also relates to a lighting device.
A reflective image display section is known that achieves image display by controlling the reflectance of external light. For example, a reflective liquid crystal display panel includes a reflective membrane adapted to reflect external light and displays an image by controlling the reflectance of external light with its liquid crystal layer. A display having a reflective image display section displays an image by using external light, thus contributing to reduced power consumption, reduced thickness and reduced weight and finding application as such, for example, for a personal digital assistance.
However, a display having a reflective image display section diminishes in visibility under a low illuminance condition. Therefore, a display has been proposed that has a lighting device adapted to irradiate light to the reflective image display section. In a lighting device having a light guide plate covering the front side of the image display section, however, part of light from the lighting device leaks toward the viewer in an ‘as-is’ manner. This leads to reduced image contrast. Further, because an image is viewed via a light guide plate, the light guide plate affects the visibility of the image.
On the other hand, a lighting device such as book light does not develop the above problem thanks to the absence of a light guide plate covering the front side of the image display section. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-338488 and 2002-229019 describe lighting devices with no light guide plate covering the front side of the image display section.